In hospitals and laboratories, a specimen sample sliced from a specimen and pasted to a slide glass is desirably stained, and then a cover film or a cover glass is covered onto the specimen sample for microscopic observation. Usually, the staining process and the covering process are performed by a dedicated staining apparatus and a dedicated covering apparatus.
Conventionally, a slide glass having a specimen sample stained by a staining apparatus is manually transferred to a covering apparatus because the staining apparatus and the covering apparatus are separately installed.
To efficiently stain and cover, a full automatic staining/covering system has been required.
To realize such the system, Patent Document 1 discloses a staining/covering system comprising: a covering apparatus having a casing; a staining apparatus whose casing contacts a part of the casing of the covering apparatus; a plurality of tanks for storing staining liquid, cleaning liquid, etc.; racks (baskets) for storing slide glasses, on which specimen samples are pasted (slide glasses attached with specimen samples); a robot arm acting as means for conveying the rack between the predetermined tanks so as to stain the slide glasses attached with specimen samples by the staining apparatus, wherein the robot arm is used as means for transferring the rack, which stores the slide glasses attached with stained specimen samples, into the covering apparatus. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Kokai Gazette No. 2003-149102